Op-Ed Blames Planned Development Districts for Development in Palm Springs

A local writer argues that development is putting the unique character of Palm Springs in peril by taking advantage of the city's Planned Development Districts.

1 minute read

June 28, 2016, 12:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Marilyn Monroe Palm Springs

Forever Marilyn, a giant statue of Marilyn Monroe designed by Seward Johnson, against the backdrop of the Palm Springs Desert. | Falon Koontz / Shutterstock

Frank Tysen writes a scathing op-ed about an ongoing threat to the character of the city of Palm Springs: the Planned Development District (PDD). "The idea is to allow difficult to develop projects to proceed by providing some zoning concessions in exchange for clearly stated public benefits," writes Tysen. "Unfortunately, those benefits are usually very superficial and meaningless."  

The consequence of the PDD in Palm Springs, according to Dysen, is a wave of new developers, "many from Orange County, who only see this city as a cash cow," because "We have basically become a town without zoning and planning."

Tysen supplies a list of the business and places that have disappeared from Palm Springs that he believes made the city unique. The solution to this encroachment of development, Tysen believes, is "to get the PDD monster under control."

Wednesday, June 22, 2016 in The Desert Sun

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